Glitch in AIMS results leaves seniors waitingThe Arizona Republic
Dec. 17, 2005
Carrie Watters
GLENDALE - Hundreds of Glendale Union High School District seniors, eager to see
whether they had passed the October round of state testing, had to leave for
winter break Thursday without answers.

That's because the results from testing company CTB/ McGraw-Hill didn't arrive
until Wednesday and because a day later, educators were notified that a portion
of the results was inaccurate.

Educators in every district in the state were told to toss computer disks of
results because of a technical glitch, Kelley Carpenter, a public-relations
staff member at McGraw-Hill, said Friday. The districts do have accurate written
results, she said.

Without electronic results, assistant principals in the Glendale district are
being asked to give up some of their holiday break to number-crunch the written
reports.

"You're doing the analysis the old-fashioned way, with a Number 2 pencil and a
yellow pad," a frustrated Assistant Superintendent Warren Jacobson said.

He's also frustrated that parents and students will have to wait for results
until school reopens Jan. 2.

Students who didn't pass will be placed in remediation classes to get them
prepped for their next shot at passing in February and March.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said the snafu wasn't a big
deal because district officials can access the information online and request an
accurate disk as early as next week. Horne expects to publish statewide figures
on the fall test Wednesday.

This article appears in certain Community editions of The Arizona Republic.